Subj : NNTP and To: field
To   : Digital Man
From : Accession
Date : Thu Nov 06 2025 16:40:46

Hey Digital!

On Wed, 05 Nov 2025 18:03:00 -0800, you wrote:

 >> I think what he was saying, is that even when there /is/ a recipient
 >> (doesn't just about every 'reply' message have a recipient?), it
 >> still uses "All" (and I don't disagree that is indeed how NNTP has
 >> always worked).

 > No, not all USENET replies have a recipient. 

Correct, however /this/ (as in what I'm fairly certain we're discussing) isn't USENET. We're using NNTP to access our message bases (which may or may not actually carry USENET). I think this conversation was much more pointing towards BBS/FTN messages. Most local and FTN messages (particularly replies) on a BBS usually have a recipient (do they not?), unless it's specifically sent to "All".

 > X-Comment-to is not a requirement or universally used.

You're right. However, in the hobby we are involved in, it makes the normal "To" and "From" fields look like everyone elses that aren't using NNTP. I also wasn't stating that Synchronet needed to do that, I was just mentioning that's how I got around all of my messages posted with a newsreader being addressed to "All".

What (I think?) the question from the OP was, was asking why /all/ messages are addressed to "All" when it seems like there's something already in the code that is looking for a recipient it could be filling the "To" field with on a reply?

Regards,
Nick

.... Sarcasm: because beating people up is illegal.
--- GoldED+/LNX 1.1.5-b20250409
 * Origin: _thePharcyde telnet://bbs.pharcyde.org (Wisconsin) (723:1/1)
 ￭ Synchronet ￭ _thePharcyde telnet://bbs.pharcyde.org (Wisconsin)

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